14<\/strong>. And my temptation<\/em> ] The true reading is probably ‘ your<\/em> temptation’. The Apostle’s sickness was a trial of their faith. Like his Divine Master, he had no natural ‘form nor comeliness’ (2Co 10:10<\/span>), and when to this natural disqualification bodily disorder was added, they might well have asked if such a teacher had any claim on their acceptance.<\/p>\n ye despised not nor rejected<\/em> ] Very strong expressions, implying that there was something repulsive in the character of the disease.<\/p>\n rejected<\/em> ] Nearly = ‘loathed’. The construction is simple, the ‘temptation’ being put for the ‘sickness’ which constituted it, and which they might have regarded with contempt and disgust.<\/p>\n even as Christ Jesus<\/em> ] An unconscious fulfilment on the part of the Galatians of our Lord’s words, ‘He that receiveth you, receiveth me’, Mat 10:40<\/span>.<\/p>\n And my temptation – <\/B>My trial, the thing which was to me a trial and calamity. The meaning is, that he was afflicted with various calamities and infirmities, but that this did not hinder their receiving him as an angel from heaven. There is, however, a considerable variety in the mss. on this verse. Many mss., instead of my temptation, read your temptation; and Mill maintains that this is the true reading. Griesbach hesitates between the two. But it is not very important to determine which is the true reading. If it should be your, then it means that they were tempted by his infirmities to reject him; and so it amounts to about the same thing. The general sense is, that he had some bodily infirmity, perhaps some periodically returning disease, that was a great trial to him, which they bore with, with great patience and affection. What that was, he has not informed us, and conjecture is vain.<\/P> But received me as an angel of God – <\/B>With the utmost respect, as if I had been an angel sent from God.<\/P> Even as Christ Jesus – <\/B>As you would have done the Redeemer himself. Learn hence:<\/P> (1) That the Lord Jesus is superior to an angel of God.<\/P> (2) That the highest proof of attachment to a minister, is to receive him as the Saviour would be received.<\/P> (3) It showed their attachment to the Lord Jesus, that they received his apostle as they would have received the Saviour himself; compare Mat 10:40<\/span>.<\/P><\/p>\n Gal 4:14<\/span><\/p>\n And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ministers and people<\/strong><\/p>\n Here we see–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> only declare what they know to be His will; and<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> have a special care to maintain that holiness of life which befits their position.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Not to despise their ministers weakness.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>To treat him with reverence and love, because a messenger of God and of Christ.<\/p>\n The superficiality of Galatian religious life<\/strong><\/p>\n If we picture to ourselves the apostle as he appeared before the Galatians, a friendless outcast, writhing under the tortures of a painful malady, yet instant in season and out of season, by turns denouncing and entreating, appealing to the agonies of a crucified Saviour, perhaps, also, as at Lystra, enforcing this appeal by some striking miracle, we shall be at no loss to conceive how the fervid temperament of the Gaul might have been aroused, while yet only the surface of his spirit and consciousness was ruffled. For the time, indeed, all seemed to be going on well. Ye were running bravely; but the very eagerness with which they had embraced the gospel was in itself a dangerous symptom, A material so easily moulded soon loses the impression it has taken. The passionate current of their Celtic blood, which flowed in this direction now, might only too easily be diverted into a fresh channel by some new religious impulse. Their reception of the gospel was not built on a deeply-rooted conviction of its truth, or a genuine appreciation of its spiritual power. (Bp. Lightfoot.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n St. Pauls infirmity<\/strong><\/p>\n The right reading and rendering is: But ye know that by reason of an infirmity of my flesh I preached the gospel to you on the former visit; and your temptation in my flesh ye did not utterly despise (set at nought) nor loathe. The drift of the first of these clauses is that on the former of two visits, he had not purposed preaching in Galatia, but did so because he was detained there by his peculiar affliction. The drift of the second clause, which is rather irregularly expressed, is that the Galatians did not scorn his infirmity nor regard it with abhorrence, although it constituted a temptation to them to repudiate the gospel, when preached by one so afflicted. This passage and 2Co 12:7<\/span> taken together point to the following results:<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The affliction was bodily. In my flesh. The effect of shocking and revolting those who witnessed it, which is pointed to in the word loathe, could only be produced by visible symptoms. Infirmity of my flesh also suggests most naturally, although not necessarily, that the infirmity attached to the body. From its tendency to bring him into contempt, the apostle looked upon it as a grievous impediment to his ministry. The words smite with the fist (2Co 12:7<\/span>) indicate the violence and the suddenness of its approaches; and his detention in Galatia, where he had not <\/strong>meant to stay, shows that he could not forecast its coming on, and apparently also that its after-effects were of some duration. The current impression that it was attended by agonizing pain is not positively justified by anything that is stated. It was probably humiliating rather than painful.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>It was an adjunct of his visions and special revelations in two ways.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> It served a disciplinary purpose in connection with them.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> Its particular visits were the immediate antecedent, if not the conditional, accompaniments of the visions and revelations themselves.<\/p>\n This last relation is not only indicated by the apostles general statement, but appears more distinctly from the fact that the answer, My grace is sufficient for thee is exactly one of the special revelations in question, and it is reasonable to suppose that it was given in direct reply to the third prayer for deliverance, uttered at a moment when he was painfully sensible of the pressure of his bodily trial. It is to be borne in mind that he is speaking in 2Co 12:1-21<\/span>. of visions and revelations experienced by him while in an ecstatic<\/em> condition, i.e.,<\/em> when the connection between the inner spiritual man and the body was either in complete abeyance or actually for a while severed, and this strongly commends the supposition that the abnormal state of body was a transition-stage to the ecstasy. The three petitions would, in this case, be made when the apostle, under some painfully humbling physical conditions, felt his conscious union with his material organism dissolving, and the Lords answer to the third petition would be heard by him when one of the ecstatic states had set in. The ecstasy, the visions and revelations, and the peculiar affection of the body, would thus be coincident in time, possibly of the same duration, and, in a certain sense, the complements of each other His conversion (Act 26:11-18<\/span>) furnishes a most striking illustration of the manner in which he may have received his supernatural communications at the precise time when he was under the actual application of the stake for the flesh. Its close conjunction with the visions and revelations does not justify the conclusion that the suffering which it brought and the Divine communications alternated with one another during the ecstasy, so that the ecstatic, like the waking life of the apostle was a copy of the life of his Master in its contrary aspects of humiliation and suffering and of exaltation and glory. If the stake for the flesh was felt during the ecstasy, he could not have said that he did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body, for a sense of bodily suffering must imply the presence of the body One clear result of the intimate union of the stake with the visions and revelations is that the occasions of his suffering from it cannot be regarded and spoken of as if they came on like the attacks of a malady. They coincided with the times at which he stood in need of special disclosures of the Divine will. The date, fourteen <\/strong>years ago (2Co 12:2<\/span>), points to directions given-him previously to quitting Arabia for a new province of ministerial work.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>When St. Paul ascribes to the stake a twofold relation to the invisible world, and sees in it a concurrence of Divine and of Satanic agency, the latter controlled by the former, he is neither speaking figuratively, nor merely stating his own personal impressions in accordance with popular views, but affirming what he knew to be a truth, and his statement is amply supported by other representations in Scripture. This admixture of Satanic action makes the attempt precarious to identify the stake with any known malady or ailment, such as <\/strong>acute headache, earache, a complaint in the eyes, or epilepsy. The view which chiefly claims consideration under this head, although there is an ancient and sustained tradition in favour of headache, is that it was epilepsy. Both Jews and pagans deemed epilepsy a supernatural visitation, and hence its name morbus divinus,<\/em> or sacer.<\/em> Another designation of it, morbus comitialis,<\/em> rested upon the same idea, for if any one was seized with it in the Roman Forum during an election it was supposed to be the intervention of a god, and business was suspended. The original for loathe in this verse means literally to spit out, and it is curious that epilepsy was also called morbus que sputalur,<\/em> because those present were accustomed to spit upon the epileptic or into their own bosoms, either to express their abomination, or to avert the evil omen for themselves. Persons may become subject to epilepsy at middle age by a great shock, physical or moral, or both, such as St. Pauls conversion was. Almost all medical writers on epilepsy mention a patient who before a seizure imagined that he saw a figure approach and smite him a blow on the head, after which he lost consciousness. This has a resemblance to the expression smite with the fist, which might well represent the suddenness of epileptic attacks. Those who happen to have seen a person seized with epilepsy while officiating in Divine service, will comprehend how natural it would be for St. Paul to regard any bodily liability at all resembling it as a terrible hindrance to his ministry. After epileptic convulsions have ended there often ensues an insensibility, and patients sometimes fall into a profound stupor or coma, which has been known to last as long as a week. This symptom would harmonize with the apostles forced stay in Galatia. Still it is doubtful whether any of these points are more than superficial agreements. An epileptic remembers nothing of what passed during the fit, whereas St. Paul had the most vivid recollection of everything. Epilepsy, frequently suffered, generally impairs the intellect, and the cases of Julius Caesar, Mahomet, and Buonaparte, who are quoted as instances of high intellectual power remaining in spite of epilepsy, are not deemed by medical authorities to be of much value.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>An attempt has been made to find an analogy of nature for the apostles cross from a different point of view, viz., by taking his visions and revelations for the starting-point. A large number of instances are upon record of religious visionaries, as they are called, and ecstatical persons, who have seemed to themselves to be translated into the invisible world, and to have seen and heard its inhabitants and transactions as sensibly as they could have seen and heard anything with their bodily organs. They have for the most part a strong conviction that they are under the immediate guidance and influence of spiritual beings during the disclosures made to them. The body is in many cases in a state resembling that of catalepsy, in which the will exercises no power over it; the expression of the eyes, though open, is extinguished; the limbs are like those of an automaton, and remain unaffected by the law of gravitation in any attitude in which they may be placed; and the face is like that of a dead person.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>It may be questioned whether such inquiries and speculations as these, although interesting, can lead to any solid results, on account of the perfectly exceptional character of the apostles case. There is reason to think that no malady or bodily disorder brought about by demoniacal agency is ever identical with ordinary disease. If similarities are traceable, they are rather symptomatic than essential affinities. There are not sufficient data for determining what peculiar ingredient characteristic of Satanic malignity there was in the apostles affliction, but it would seem to have been something calculated to overwhelm him with ignominy rather than to excruciate him with pain. It is consolatory to know that, however hard it was to bear, the grace of Christ enabled him ultimately to rejoice and glory in it as a means whereby the power of the Lord more fully tabernacled upon him and invested him with the true strength for doing his Masters work. (Canon Waite.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 14. And my temptation which was in my flesh<\/B><\/I>] On this verse there are a great many various readings, as there are various opinions.<\/P> <\/P> Instead of , MY temptation<\/I>, ABC*D*FG, some others, with the Coptic, Vulgate, Itala<\/I>, and several of the primitive fathers<\/I>, have , YOUR temptation.<\/P> <\/P> The word , which we translate temptation<\/I>, signifies trial<\/I> of any kind. The verse therefore may be read, “Ye despised not the trial which was in my flesh;” or, “Ye despised not your trial, which was in my flesh:” i.e. what my flesh suffered on your account, the afflictions I passed through in consequence of my severe labours on your account. You did not consider me less an apostle of God on account of my sinking for a time under the weight of my work. Had they been disaffected towards him at that time, they would have used this to the prejudice of his apostolic mission. “What! do you pretend to be an extraordinary messenger from God, and yet are suffered to fall into sickness under the severity of your labour? If God sent you, would he not sustain you?” This would have been quite natural, had they not been well affected toward him. But, on the contrary, notwithstanding these afflictions, they received him as an angel of God<\/I>-as a messenger from heaven, and as Jesus Christ<\/I> himself. This appears to me to be the simple meaning of the apostle, and that he neither alludes to a bodily<\/I> nor mental<\/I> infirmity, which generally<\/I> or periodically<\/I> afflicted him, as some have imagined. Nor does he appear at all to speak of the same case<\/I> as that mentioned 2Co 12:7<\/span>, where I wish the reader to consult the notes. That St. Paul had frequent and severe afflictions, in consequence of his constant and severe exertions in the Gospel ministry, we may readily believe, and of this his own words bear sufficient testimony.<\/P> <\/P> See his affecting account, 2Co 11:23-29<\/span>, and the notes there.<\/P> <\/p>\n And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; <\/B>the apostle saith they were so far from injuring him, (as he had said, Gal 4:12<\/span>), that they had expressed great kindness to him: for though, when he first came amongst them to preach the gospel, he was a man of no great presence; but, in the judgment of some, vile and base; or was full of bodily weakness and disease, was persecuted by men; yet they did not reject nor despise him, for those temptations he had in the flesh: by which he means, the same things he before meant by infirmities, for both bodily weaknesses, and sufferings for the gospel, are temptations, or, as the word signifieth, trials. <\/P> But received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus; <\/I>nay, (saith he), you were so for from rejecting or despising me upon that account, that (on the contrary) you received me as if I had been an angel; yea, if Jesus Christ himself had come amongst you, you could not have been more kind to him than you were to me. This he tells them, partly, to let them know, that what he had spoken was not out of any ill will or prejudice to them; partly, to retain their good will, that they might not show themselves uncertain and inconstant in their judgments and affections; and partly, (as the following verse testifieth), to show the levity of some of them, who had too much forgotten their first judgment of him, and value for him. <\/P> <\/p>\n 14. my temptation<\/B>The oldestmanuscripts read, “your temptation.” My infirmity, whichwas, or might have been, a “temptation,” or trial, toyou,<\/I> ye despised not, that is, ye were not tempted by it todespise me and my message. Perhaps, however, it is better topunctuate and explain as LACHMANN,connecting it with Ga 4:13<\/span>,”And (ye know) your temptation (that is, the temptation to whichye were exposed through the infirmity) which was in my flesh. Yedespised not (through natural<\/I> pride), nor rejected (throughspiritual<\/I> pride), but received me,” &c. “Temptationdoes not mean here, as we now use the word, tendency to an evilhabit,<\/I> but BODILY TRIAL.”<\/P> as an angel of God<\/B>as aheaven-inspired and sent messenger<\/I> from God: angel<\/I>means “messenger” (Mal2:7<\/span>). Compare the phrase, 2Sa19:27<\/span>, a Hebrew and Oriental one for a person to be received withthe highest respect (Zec 12:8<\/span>).An angel is free from the flesh, infirmity,<\/I> and temptation.<\/I><\/P> as Christ<\/B>beingChrist’s representative (Mt10:40<\/span>). Christ is Lord of angels.<\/P><\/p>\n And my temptation which was in my flesh<\/strong>,…. The same with the infirmity of his flesh, and which was a trial of his faith and patience, and every other grace, as the afflictions of the saints be. The Alexandrian copy, and some others, and the Vulgate Latin version read, “your temptation in my flesh”; that which was a trial of them, whether they would receive him or not. This<\/p>\n ye despised not<\/strong>; nor the apostle on the account of it, nor his ministry; they thought never the worse of him, nor of the Gospel he preached, because of this:<\/p>\n nor rejected<\/strong>; him, nor the counsel of God declared by him,<\/p>\n but received me<\/strong>; as they did, into their cities and places of worship, into their houses, and into their hearts and affections: and that<\/p>\n as an angel of God<\/strong>; with all that reverence and respect, that high esteem, veneration, and affection, as if one of the celestial inhabitants had been sent down from heaven to bring them the good tidings of the Gospel: or “as a messenger of God”, as the phrase may be rendered: as one that had his mission and commission from God, which was not at all disputed by them: but they looked upon him under that character, and regarded him as such,<\/p>\n even as Christ Jesus<\/strong>; as his ambassador, as representing him, as being in his stead; yea, if he had been personally present as man among them, they could not have shown greater respect to him as such, than they did to the apostle; for as for any religious worship and adoration, that they did not offer to him; and had they, he would have addressed them in like manner he did the inhabitants of Lystra, Ac 14:14<\/span>. Now since they showed him so much respect, notwithstanding all his infirmities, temptations, and afflictions, when he first preached the Gospel; what should hinder that they should not pay the same regard to him now, by abiding in his doctrine and following his example, since he was the same man in his principles and practices now as then?<\/p>\n A temptation to you in my flesh <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). “Your temptation (or trial) in my flesh.” Peirasmon can be either as we see in Jas 1:2<\/span>; Jas 1:12<\/span>. If trial here, it was a severe one.<\/P> Nor rejected <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). First aorist active indicative of <\/SPAN><\/span>, old word to spit out (Homer), to spurn, to loathe. Here only in N.T. Clemen (Primitive Christianity<\/I>, p. 342) thinks it should be taken literally here since people spat out as a prophylactic custom at the sight of invalids especially epileptics. But Plutarch uses it of mere rejection.<\/P> As an angel of God <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>),<\/P> as Christ Jesus <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). In spite of his illness and repulsive appearance, whatever it was. Not a mere “messenger” of God, but a very angel, even as Christ Jesus. We know that at Lystra Paul was at first welcomed as Hermes the god of oratory (Ac 14:12f.<\/span>). But that narrative hardly applies to these words, for they turned against Paul and Barnabas then and there at the instigation of Jews from Antioch in Pisidia and Iconium. <\/P> <\/p>\n My temptation which was in my flesh [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. The correct reading is peirasmon uJmwn your temptation. The trial to which they were subjected by his bodily infirmity (verse 13), and which might have tempted them to treat him with indifference. <\/P> Ye despised not nor rejected [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Commonly explained by making both verbs govern your temptation. Thus the meaning would be : “You were tempted to treat my preaching contemptuously because of my bodily infirmity; but you did not despise nor reject that which was a temptation to you.” This is extremely far fetched, awkward, and quite without parallel in Paul ‘s writings or elsewhere. It does not suit the following but received me, etc. It lays the stress on the Galatians’ resistance of a temptation to despise Paul; whereas the idea of a temptation is incidental. On this construction we should rather expect Paul to say : “Ye did despise and repudiate this temptation.” Better, make your temptation, etc., dependent on ye know (verse 13); place a colon after flesh, and make both verbs govern me in the following clause. Rend. “Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel to you the first time, and (ye know) your temptation which was in my flesh : ye did not despise nor reject me, but received me.” The last clause thus forms one of a series of short and detached clauses beginning with verse 10. Ouk ejxouqenhsate ye did not set at nought, from ouJuden nothing. The form oujqen occurs Luk 22:35<\/span>; Luk 23:14<\/span>; Act 19:27<\/span>; Act 26:26<\/span>; 1Co 13:2<\/span>; 2Co 11:8<\/span>. For the compound here, comp. Luk 18:9<\/span>; Luk 23:11<\/span>; Act 4:11<\/span>; 2Co 10:10<\/span>. o Class. Exeptusate spurned, N. T. o. Lit. spat out. A strong metaphor, adding the idea of contempt to that of setting at nought. Comp. Hom<\/span>. Od. 5<\/span> 322; Aristoph. Wasps, 792. The two verbs express contemptuous indifference. Emesai to vomit, as a figure of contemptuous rejection, is found in Rev 3:16<\/span>. The simple ptuein to spit only in the literal sense in N. T. Mr 7:33<\/span>; Mr 8:23<\/span>; Joh 9:6<\/span>, and no other compound occurs. <\/P> As an angel. Bengel says : “The flesh, infirmity, temptation, are known to angels; wherefore to receive as an angel is to receive with great veneration.” As Jesus Christ. With even higher honor than an angel. Comp. Mt 10:40<\/span>; Joh 13:20<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “And my temptation which was in my flesh,”<\/strong> (kai ton peirasmon humon en te sarki mou) “And the trial of you all (which was) in my flesh;” Paul’s infirmity or sickness appears to have caused him to have stayed with the Galatians longer than he had intended.<\/p>\n 2) “Ye despised not, nor rejected,”<\/strong> (ouk eksouthenesate oude ekseptusate) “You all neither despised nor disdained,” looked down upon. You did not take it lightly or reject me with contempt and disgust because of my infirmity or diseased condition, Gal 6:1<\/span>.<\/p>\n 3) “But received me as an angel of God,”<\/strong> (alla hos angellon theou edeksasthe me) “You all took me in as a messenger of God.” This apostolic acceptance was in the Spirit of Christ, and as Abraham and Lot received Angelic Messengers, Gen 18:1-33<\/span>; Gen 19:1-3<\/span>; Heb 13:1-2<\/span>; Mal 2:7<\/span>; Mat 10:40-42<\/span>.<\/p>\n 4) “Even as Christ Jesus,”<\/strong> (hos Christon lesoun) “As if I were Christ Jesus,” (hos Christon lesoun) “As if I were Christ Jesus;” What affection! What love! To be accepted, even in sickness or infirmity, as if one were Jesus Christ, reflects noble affection and veneration in the receiver, Mat 25:40-45<\/span>; 1Th 2:13<\/span>.<\/p>\n 14. My temptation. That is, “Though ye perceived me to be, in a worldly point of view, a contemptible person, yet ye did not reject me.” He calls it a temptation or trial, because it was a thing not unknown or hidden, and he did not himself attempt to conceal it, as is usually done by ambitious men, who are ashamed of anything about them that may lower them in public estimation. It frequently happens that unworthy persons receive applause, before their true character has been discovered, and shortly afterwards are dismissed with shame and disgrace. But widely different was the case of Paul, who had used no disguise to impose on the Galatians, but had frankly told them what he was. <\/p>\n As an angel of God. In this light every true minister of Christ ought to be regarded. As God employs the services of angels for communicating to us his favors, so godly teachers are divinely raised up to administer to us the most excellent of all blessings, the doctrine of eternal salvation. Not without good reason are they, by whose hands God dispenses to us such a treasure, compared to angels: for they too are the messengers of God, by whose mouth God speaks to us. And this argument is used by Malachi. <\/p>\n “<\/p>\n The priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. ” (Mal 2:7<\/span>.) <\/p>\n But the apostle rises still higher, and adds, even as Christ Jesus; for the Lord himself commands that his ministers shall be viewed in the same light as himself. <\/p>\n “<\/p>\n He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me.” (Luk 10:16<\/span>.) <\/p>\n Nor is this wonderful; for it is in his name that they discharge their embassy, and thus they hold the rank of him in whose room they act. Such is the highly commendatory language which reveals to us at once the majesty of the gospel, and the honorable character of its ministry. If it be the command of Christ that his ministers shall be thus honored, it is certain that contempt of them proceeds from the instigation of the devil; and indeed they never can be despised so long as the word of God is esteemed. In vain do the Papists attempt to hold out this pretext for their own arrogant pretensions. As they are plainly the enemies of Christ, how absurd is it that they should assume the garb, and take to themselves the character, of Christ’s servants! If they wish to obtain the honors of angels, let them perform the duty of angels: if they wish that we should listen to them as to Christ, let them convey to us faithfully his pure word. <\/p>\n (14) My temptation which was in my flesh.<\/strong>The true reading is here, your temptation in my flesh<\/em>i.e.,<\/em> my bodily infirmities, which might have been a temptation to you to reject me. St. Paul seems to have suffered from grievous bodily infirmity, which he elsewhere (2Co. 12:7<\/span>) describes as a thorn (or rather, stake<\/em>) in the flesh. The effects of this were seen in his personal appearance, which his enemies described as mean (2Co. 10:10<\/span>); and he himself felt it as a corrective against any tendency to spiritual pride (2Co. 12:7<\/span>). An attack of this malady came upon him during his visit to Galatia, and it was with health shattered by this that he first preached the gospel to the Galatians. Still, to their credit, they took no notice of it, and gave him the warmest possible reception. As to the nature of the malady referred to, see Notes on 2 Corinthians 12<\/span>.<\/p>\n Despised not, nor rejected.<\/strong>The second of these two words is stronger than would appear from the English version. It is used of the expression of physical disgust: ye despised not, nor loathed.<\/em> The Apostle says that the Galatians did not despise their temptation, meaning the thing (malady) which they were tempted to despise.<\/p>\n Even as Christ Jesus.<\/strong>You showed to the ambassador of Christ as much enthusiasm, as deep and ardent an affection, as you could have shown to Christ Himself.<\/p>\n 14<\/strong>. <\/strong> My temptation<\/strong> The truer reading seems to be, your <\/em> temptation<\/strong>. That is, your temptation, <\/em> from my infirmity, to reject me with contempt. <\/p>\n Ye despised not<\/strong> This verb seems to require that Paul considers temptation <\/strong> to be a sort of designation of his infirmity<\/strong>: your temptation<\/strong>, to wit, my infirmity, you despised not. The Greek for despised not <\/strong> is an idiomatic term for that meaning; , ye spit <\/em> not out. <\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n As an angel<\/strong> So divine seemed my message that ye treated me as a divine messenger. <\/p>\n As Christ Jesus<\/strong> Lord of all angels, whose testimony stands, even though contradicted by an angel<\/strong>, Gal 1:8<\/span>.<\/p>\n Gal 4:14<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>My temptation which was in my flesh,<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> What this weakness and trial in the flesh was, says Mr. Locke, since it has not pleased the Apostle to mention, it is impossible for us to know; but it may be remarked here, as an instance, once for all, oftheunavoidableobscurityofsome passages in epistolary writings, without any fault in the author; for some things necessary to the understanding of what is written are usually of course and justly omitted, because already known by the person, or persons, to whom the letter is written; and it would be often superfluous, and sometimes very ungraceful, particularly <\/em>to mention them. We may, however, just observe, that this seems to be the same as the infirmity of the flesh, <\/em>Gal 4:13<\/span> and it is very probably supposed by many to be what he speaks of 2Co 12:7<\/span>. See also <\/p>\n 2Co 10:10<\/span>. But we must once more add, that St. Paul, as well as all the other writers of the bible, was, while writing, under the infallible direction of the Holy Ghost. <\/p>\n Gal 4:14<\/span> . Still dependent on , as is logically required by the contrast<\/em> to ., which is introduced by , .<\/p>\n . . .] As to the reading , see the critical notes. The sense is: that ye were put to the proof as respected my bodily weakness<\/em> (namely, as to your receiving and accepting my announcements, demands, etc., notwithstanding this my suffering and impotent appearance; see the antithesis, . . .); this proof ye have not rejected with disdain and aversion, but on the contrary have submitted yourselves to it so excellently, that ye received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus<\/em> . The is not and yet<\/em> (Koppe, Winer, Matthies), but the simple and<\/em> , continuing the address ( , . . .).<\/p>\n ] is the more precise definition of . , specifying wherein<\/em> the readers had to undergo a trial, namely, in the fact of Paul’s having then preached to them in such bodily weakness<\/em> . Comp. Plat. Phil<\/em> . p. 21 A: , upon thee<\/em> we would make the trial. Hom. Il<\/em> . xix. 384, . Comp. also , Plat. Pol<\/em> . vi. p. 503 A. Hence did not require the connecting article, as it is in reality blended with so as to form one idea. See on Gal 3:26<\/span> . And the definition of the sense<\/em> of is derived from in Gal 4:13<\/span> . Fritzsche, l.c<\/em> . p. 245, objects to the sense which is given by the reading : 1. sententiam ab h. l. abhorrere<\/em> . But how aptly does the Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>The goodness of God, who does not speak in His awful majesty, but sends ambassadors to beseech us to be reconciled to Him.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The responsibility of pastors, because they stand in the stead of Christ Jesus, and must, therefore,<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The duty and privilege of the Church<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>The comfort of believers. Sure and certain, as though administered by an angel or by Christ Himself. (W. Perkins.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n